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Danida Forest Seed Centre

SEED LEAFLET
Sclerocarya birrea (A. Rich.) Hochst.
Taxonomy and nomenclature
Family: Anacardiaceae
Synonyms: Commiphora subglauca Engl.;
Poupartia caffra (Sond.) H. Perrier; Sclerocarya
caffra Sond.; S. caffra Sond. var. dentata Engl.;
S. caffra Sond. var. oblongifoliata Engl.; S. schwein-furthi-
ana Schinz
Vernacular/common names: marula (trade name);
hameid (Arabic); gna (Chad); mu-mugga (Ghana);
maroela, mufula (South Africa); umganu (Swazi-
land); mupfura (Zimbabwe); mngongo (Swahili).
Subspecies/Varieties: Sclerocarya birrea subsp. bir-
rea; Sclerocarya birrea subsp. caffra (Sond.) Kok-
waro; Sclerocarya birrea subsp. multifoliata (Engl.)
Kokwaro

Distribution and habitat
Native to Africa where it is widely distributed be-
tween 16N and 20S in wooded grasslands, riverine
woodlands and bushlands. It prefers well drained
sandy soils and loams but is often found growing
on rocky hills. Occurs at low to medium altitudes in
areas with 200-1600 mm rain per year. Subsp. caffra
is known to be highly salt tolerant.
The species has been introduced to Israel where it
was successfully established in the Negev Desert.
Uses
The marula is a valued fruit tree and all parts of the
fruit are edible. The juicy pulp is rich in vitamin C. It
is used in jams and jellies and, on a commercial basis,
to produce marula beer and liqueurs like, in South
Africa, Amarula. The seeds have a high oil content
(~60%), consisting mainly of unsaturated fatty acids,
and are also rich in protein and minerals. They are
eaten raw or cooked.
The bark is widely used in the treatment of dysentery
and diarrhoea due to its high antibacterial activity.
The wood is used for carvings and fuel, fbres from
the inner bark for making rope, fruits and leaves are a
source of fodder and the tree provides shade and acts
as a wind break.
Botanical description
Tree, normally about 10 m tall, on favourable sites up
to 20 m. Bark grey, faking in patches exposing the
underlying light yellow tissue.
Leaves alternate, compound, with 7-13 pairs of
opposite leafets plus the terminal leafet. Leafets are
dark green above, much paler and bluish-green below.
The leaves are crowded near the ends of branches.
The species is principally dioecious with male and
female fowers on different trees, but occasionally a
tree can bear fowers of both sexes. Flowers in 5-8 cm
long inforescences at the end of branches.
Fruit and seed description
Fruit: a round drupe, up to 3.5 cm in diameter, yellow
at maturity. The pulp is juicy and adheres tightly to
the stone. The stone is 2-3 cm long, hard, with one to
four cavities, each usually containing one seed. Each
cavity has an opening covered with a lid (operculum)
that remains frmly attached until germination.
Seed: the seeds are small and fragile, covered with a
thin seed coat. 500 stones per kg. has been reported.
Flowering and fruiting habit
The trees are deciduous, standing bare for several
months during the dry season. Flowering occurs at
the end of the dry season just before the leaves ap-
pear and the fruits mature at the beginning of the
rainy season. In the Sahel fowering occurs in Janu-
ary-March, fruiting in March-April; in the Sudan
fowering is in January-April, fruiting in April-June;
Tree habit. Botswana. Photo: Roeland Kindt, University
of Gent
No.72 May 2003
Danida Forest Seed Centre Phone: +45-49190500
Krogerupvej 21 Fax: +45-49160258
DK-3050 Humlebaek Email: dfsc@sns.dk
Denmark Website: www.dfsc.dk
in southern Africa fowering is in September-Novem-
ber, fruiting in February-June.
The fruits abscise before they are mature. At the
time of fruitfall the fruits are still green and frm and
fnal ripening takes place on the ground.Trees can
begin to set seed as early as at the age of 5 years.
Harvest
When the fruits have turned yellow they are mature.
At this stage they have already been abscised, so
fruits are normally collected from the ground.
When mature, the seeds have a high moisture
content, up to 30% and to avoid fermentation of the
pulp the fruits must be brought to the processing site
as soon as possible.
Fruit and seed processing and handling
After collection it is vital that the seeds are processed
and dried as soon as possible. If the seeds are kept at
initial moisture content for just a few days they will
loose viability.
Before depulping, the fruits are soaked in water for
24 hours. The feshy pulp can then be removed using
a cement mixer. The fruits are mixed with gravel in
the proportion of 1 kg gravel to 2 kg fruits. With a
large amount of water, this is stirred in the mixer.
When the stones are clean, they are separated from
pulp and gravel and washed clean with water. After
extraction, the stones are spread out on a mesh and
dried in the sun for at least two days.
Storage and viability
The seeds are orthodox, they can withstand substan-
tial water loss and low storage temperatures. If dried
below 10% moisture content they can retain viability
for up to 4 years.
Dormancy and pretreatment
The hard endocarp (stone) forms a physical barrier to
seed germination and removal of the opercula (lids)
will signifcantly improve germination and the seeds
will germinate faster and more uniformly. This must
be done manually with a small chisel and is normally
too time consuming to be feasible.
Germination has also been reported to be improved
if the stones are cracked in a vice but this must be
done carefully as the seeds are very fragile and easily
damaged. Furthermore, cracking may increase seed
microfora. It is not recommended to extract the
seeds. Treatment with acid has shown good results.
There are some indications that the seeds need
after-ripening, in some seedlots it was observed that
germination improved after the seeds had been stored
for 3-6 months. However, this may also have been the
result of loosening the operculum over time.
Sowing and germination
Germination is epigeal. If the opercula have been
removed, germination is fast and uniform, reaching
70% after one week and 85% after two weeks from
sowing. Without treatment, germination may take as
long as nine months. Vegetative propagation with
cuttings has proven successful.
Selected readings
Coates-Palgrave, K. 1996. Trees of Southern Africa. Cape
Town, South Africa: C. S. Struik Publishers.
FAO 1995. Edible Nuts. Non-wood forest products No 05.
FAO, Rome.
Gamn, C.S., D. Erdey, D. Baxter, N. Motete and P. Ber-
jak 2002. Desiccation, germination and storage of Sclero-
carya birrea seeds from Burkina Faso. Under preparation.
Maydell, H.J. 1986. Trees and Shrubs of the Sahel, Their
Characteristics and Uses. Rossdorf: TZ-Verlags-gesells-
chaft.
Msanga, H.P. 1998. Seed Germination of Indigenous Trees
in Tanzania. Canadian Forest Service, Noth. Forestry Centre.
Watson, L. and M.J. Dallwitz (1992 onwards). The
Families of Flowering Plants: Descriptions, Illustrations,
Identifcation, and Information Retrieval. Version: 14th .
December 2000. http:/biodiversity.uno.edu/delta.
THIS NOTE WAS PREPARED IN COLLABORATION
WITH THE UNIVERSITY OF NATAL, SOUTH AFRICA
Authors: Dorthe Jker, DFSC and Deon Erdey, University
of Natal
Mature fruits of S. birrea
subsp. caffra, Botswana.
Photo: F.E.M. Cook
Stone with opercula removed
to facilitate germination.
Photo: Andrew McRobb
(copyright Royal Botanic
Gardens, Kew, with
permission)

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